The Girl Who Knew Too Much

A shocking unsolved missing person’s case within the Vatican walls and under the rule of one of the most political pontificates in Vatican history: Pope John Paul.
On June 22, 1983, Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican citizen, left her home to attend a music lesson and vanished. Her disappearance turned into one of Italy’s most baffling and infamous unsolved mysteries, spawning all sorts of conspiracy theories. Over the past 40 years, as the family has desperately pursued the truth, following up on a series of trails, from links to the Banco Ambrosiano crack to international terrorism involving John Paul II’s failed assassin Ali Agca, a Roman criminal band, and high-ranking prelate pedophiles. Fanciful reconstructions designed to throw off investigators and influence public opinion were born out of the frustrating silence on the part of the Vatican. 
Meticulously reconstructing scenarios in Emanuela’s disappearance, journalist Ferruccio Pinotti and ex magistrate Giancarlo Capaldo explore this extraordinary unsolved mystery, set against the background of the last remnants of the Cold War: perversion, blackmail and power struggles, suspicions about clergy members, the opaque role of the secret services, documents on Emanuela’s possible transfer to London and an incredible burial in Sant’Apollinare. Considering unpublished testimonies and documents, this book reveals an increasingly dense web of intrigue and possibilities.